i can recall when the floods occurred in kashmir in 2014. the damage was so severe that when i visited in 2016, you could still see the water seeping through the walls. more than 700 villages in just the city of srinigar were submerged in floodwater, and more than 300 people lost their lives, 53,082 people were sickened or injured, and 226,000 were evacuated, according to a report in the international journal of commerce and management.

in 2014 i was only 10 years old, so i did not particularly understand how large the predicament was for my family. when i was younger i would often visit kashmir once every other year. that year i hadn’t, but i remember that my other family members who were visiting were forced to scramble to get back home to the u.s. or find a safe place to evacuate to. power lines were down, so my mother had no clue what situation her parents or other family members were in, but in truth, this is a normal year for kashmir. 

whether it has to do with natural disasters or political uprisings (being that kashmir is right between pakistan and india, so there are many political tensions), there are often times when my family in the u.s. is cut off from communicating with my family in kashmir. floods are a frequent occurrence and when they happen in kashmir, they also affect surrounding areas, like pakistan. unfortunately, when these things happen, there is often a severe lack of western media coverage and aid to these eastern countries because these problems are not seen as relevant to the average person in the u.s. we are now seeing the same thing happen with the ongoing flooding in pakistan since june. 

with the growth of social media as a tool for advocacy, many people’s perceptions of international issues have changed. however, we still need to pay more attention to how developing countries are disproportionately affected by climate change issues because of a lack of resources and frequently inept governments. 

what is happening in pakistan? 

as of september 2022, about one-third of pakistan’s area was still submerged in water due to constant flooding that began in june. given the geographic location of pakistan, it has always been susceptible to monsoons. however, a study mentioned in a 2022 article written by raymond zhong for the new york times found global warming likely worsened the amount of rainfall that pakistan received during its most recent monsoon season. the main issue is that since pakistan is a vulnerable area, small changes in climate make a big difference.

additionally, a study done by the world weather attribution found that climate change made rainfall 50 percent more intense in pakistan’s sindh and balochistan provinces. jacob kurtzer of the center for strategic & international studies stated that, on top of climate change, the devastating effects of the floods are largely due to the pakistani government “paying the price for years of delays in addressing the problem.”

this includes mismanagement of the country’s water resources, like illegally or poorly built structures that cannot withstand the forces of floods or rainfall. of course, this means that those on the bottom of the economic class will suffer the most, which is, unfortunately, most of pakistan’s population. as a result of the june 2022 disaster, as kurtzer reported, 4.2 million people have been affected, nearly 1,400 people have died, more than 1,600 are injured, half a million are displaced, and more than one million homes are damaged. authorities say the water could take up to six months to recede. the financial damage of the floods in pakistan has exceeded $30 billion, causing the united nations to “(launch) a flash appeal of $160 million to help flood victims,” according to a bloomberg article. the u.s. and other countries have also pledged to give large amounts of money, but donations cannot entirely fix all infrastructural and systemic problems.

why this is our problem

due to the fact that the global north is far more industrialized than many other parts of the world, we end up being responsible for a majority of carbon emissions and global pollution. these emissions lead to climate change that affects areas in the global south, like pakistan. corporate america ignores the consequences of their actions especially when it comes to environmental regulations for their own economic gain. many s&p 500 companies (the largest publicly traded companies in the u.s.) claim that they are “accelerating efforts to reduce the climate crisis,” but the new york times reports, marketing and investor presentations reveal they fail to take into account the largest source of carbon emissions, and if left ignored, these emissions could triple what they should be in 2050. 

pakistan is home to 2.6 percent of the world’s population, but, according to kurtzer’s report, the country is only responsible for 0.4 percent of global carbon emissions since 1959, while the u.s. has 4 percent of the world’s population and is responsible for 13 percent of global carbon emissions.

countries in the global north have exceeded their global emissions quotas by more than 90 percent with 100 companies responsible for 71 percent of emissions, according to a 2017 report. so while the monsoons in pakistan are a natural occurrence, the effects have clearly worsened due to climate change with pakistan seeing 190 percent more rain than the 30-year average, reuters reported. first world countries like the u.s. have accelerated the effects of climate change in other countries, which makes it our responsibility to stay informed and fix our own failed environmental regulations that are causing harm all over the globe. 

the bigger issue

it’s equally important to address that, because climate change primarily affects marginalized communities, it often seems that many people in the global north display a lack of care and empathy when reacting to these increasingly frequent disasters. the u.n. secretary-general antónio guterres himself has said that he “never [has] seen climate carnage” at this scale and has warned that tomorrow this (in reference to the floods) could be happening to your country. guterres has called on the world to stop “sleepwalking” through this crisis and to be more aware of what is happening in pakistan, the associated press reported in september.

essentially, if this was happening to your country, or your people, you would care. however, since many in the u.s. lack an interest in the rest of the world and popular media tends to focus on domestic issues, it’s easy to stay blissfully ignorant of what’s happening elsewhere. western media and its people typically lack empathy for what is happening in pakistan because it’s an underdeveloped, non-white, and non-majority christian society, therefore people can immediately write it off as a place they can’t relate or connect to. and while pakistan has received a great deal of international humanitarian care, it pales in comparison to the response aid that some european countries have recently received.

how to help

i know i would have appreciated awareness and empathy when kashmir was hit with its disaster in 2014. so if you want to help aid in this crisis it’s likely that your school has a pakistani student association or other related south asian organizations where you can find fundraisers or places to donate. it will take time for governments globally to make systemic change and effectively lessen the effects of climate change, but you can make an impact by starting small. simply volunteering and working with your local organizers/politicians to enact policies that will aid vulnerable communities can make a big difference for the families that are affected. the intersections of race and class with climate change are important and complex issues, hence why they should never be ignored whenever we talk about the climate crisis.

dr. luzadis is a professor in the environmental studies department at suny college of environmental science and forestry (esf), and is the founder of heart forward science, a program created to advance sustainable scientific outcomes with the whole-person approach. she also serves on the planet forward advisory council, and is chair of the board of directors of the global council for science and the environment (gcse). 

a huge thanks to dr. luzadis for taking the time to chat with me. it was great to get an inside look at what went on at the conference and from such an interesting perspective. as an educator at a school like esf, dr. luzadis has a unique point of view on these issues (i would guess that most representatives at cop don’t work with youth activists in their day jobs). i hope the solutions and behavior changes recommended by dr. luzadis will be widely heard and implemented. 

podcast transcription:

lily john  0:00  
my name is lily john and i’m a planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 at suny-esf. i recently sat down with esf professor dr. valerie luzadis to discuss her experience at this year’s un climate summit. was this your first time attending a cop conference?

dr. valerie luzadis  0:18  
it was this was my first one. yes.

lily john  0:21  
okay, and how did it compare to your expectations?

dr. valerie luzadis  0:25  
well, i didn’t have many going in, i wasn’t really sure exactly what to expect. of course, i know about this work, since it’s critical to sustainability. but this was also the first time that the global council for science and the environment had a delegation. so it was very interesting to work with a group of people from other institutions around the world to come together, and, you know, have a common platform for observing and connecting with one another. so it was a really, overall great experience, and so many ways. i was full time observing the second week, when all the negotiations were happening. and i found that i got very invested along the way, well, following certain threads of language and discussions. and as is typical with negotiations, and with consensus approaches, which is what’s used for the cop meetings, things are a little stronger, earlier, and usually get softened language wise by the end, and that happened, and there’s kind of an emotional ride with that, then it’s like, oh, i really wanted to see this. happen that way. and, and so almost disappointment at moments of that. it really took me a couple of days after the meeting ended to say, okay, remember what this is. it’s consensus. it’s global-level discussions. we have no formal enforcement mechanisms, and then really look at what happened at the meeting. and when i did that, i can say, i think progress was certainly made. and it’s not enough.

lily john  2:04  
yeah, that seems like the consensus. but, the language was softening just in order to reach a compromise, like that was the only way to get people to agree to what was being proposed?

dr. valerie luzadis  2:17  
yes, and it’s an interesting process that they use, because it’s not formal agreement. it’s just agreeing to not block it, right. so at the very end, that’s how the consensus is reached. and so there’s this process where they have these informal stocktaking sessions, and i found those very interesting was where the countries would be able to say, here’s what we want. and here’s what we think should be happening. and by the end, it became “we are not happy with this, this, this, and this, and we are not going to block this.”

lily john  2:52  
i imagine it’s quite complicated to be managing all of these different pieces of input and beginning with what each party won’t agree with. from that perspective, it’s kind of impressive that anything got done. what did the representation outside of government look like? and what was the role of these groups?

dr. valerie luzadis  3:11  
well, the the formal parties and government deal parties are all through the un. and so it’s not a formal representation in terms of the consensus building, that’s only the governments themselves. and so the observers and our ngos, businesses, civil… civil society groups that meet outside of this are there to share their thoughts about how to move things ahead. there’s a whole set of technical advisors who are also there. how do we do what we need to get done?

lily john  3:43  
it’s great that there was so much representation of different groups there. so this year, what were the primary themes of cop?

dr. valerie luzadis  3:51  
the primary themes continued, of course, to be on mitigation, and then adaptation. there was also a big discussion on what they called loss and damage. and that’s because there are already losses and damages related to climate change. and it’s happening in large part to countries and to peoples who are 1. not causing this problem, and 2. don’t have the resources to be able to respond to it. there was also a very big focus on climate finance. and then the final thing was creating what was called “the paris rulebook.” and this was really rules that are needed to implement what was agreed to in paris. so the goals of this particular cop 26, included, trying to secure global net zero by mid century, and keeping to 1.5 degrees within reach of possibility, because right now, we were set toward a greater than two degrees increase global warming before this meeting, and so a lot of the conversation was about what do we need to change what has to be added? how can we get to keeping us to that 1.5 degree limit. there were adaptation conversations around protecting communities and habitats. and then this finance issue was big because the agreements that were made, and paris didn’t come through, i heard at one point that only 20% of what was promised came through. and so there was a lot of attention to that lack of follow through, and the need for what they’re talking about, it’s $100 billion a year mobilized toward helping to deal with climate change. and there were certain countries, developing countries, who really wanted to say developed countries should be paying this. there are 20 countries that produce 80% of the the greenhouse gases. and the two biggest contributors, of course, are the us and china. and so i think this is one of the issues is who’s paying this money in? so when you talk about this climate finance, it’s not just countries, but it’s also private financing.

lily john  6:00  
is that private companies? are they part o f the question?

dr. valerie luzadis  6:04  
this would come from companies who have created some sort of… you might think about it the… so the language that we ended up with at this point was that we would agree to phase out “unabated coal” and inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, but “unabated coal” suggests that we need to abate coal. so there are companies that have the technology and ability to be able to do that. and so they become part of the financing activity.

lily john  6:32  
is there a discussion around the big polluter companies making financial contributions?

dr. valerie luzadis  6:38  
this is one of the things that i do know is that within the nationally developed contributions, each country is looking at how they manage the polluters. and so the polluter pays, of course, is one of those techniques that are used.

lily john  6:53  
why do you think that these regulations haven’t been effective?

dr. valerie luzadis  6:57  
coal and fossil fuels have never been called out in one of the climate agreements, and so it wasn’t in the paris agreement. so the fact that this was going to come into play and get put into language in the document was a really big deal. and the beginning, it was to phase out coal, and to phase out subsidies to fossil fuels. and it changed to to phase out unabated coal and inefficient subsidies to fossil fuels. and those situations, it’s at the country level, or even sometimes sub-national level where these things are regulated. and so that’s the question, it’s kind of moving, it gets moved into different scales, where we have a global problem, but now we have to figure out how and at which scales do we need to do which things in order to have a global impact and changing it?

lily john  7:52  
yeah, those systems seem like they’re very well established. and the systems needed to reverse that action and to work together to end burning coal, or whatever else needs to be done. it seems like those systems haven’t really been established because of the lack of agreement.

dr. valerie luzadis  8:11  
yeah, so this is probably one of the most interesting things about this cop for me was was exactly this bigger picture around systems. the youth voice was strong at this cop. and there was not one voice. we also heard indigenous youth speak so clearly, and passionately. and one of the most astounding things i heard was this group, essentially saying, “why are we looking to you who created this problem to fix it? because there’s no incentive for that.” and so what i started to see was a very clear voice set of voices in this process, and a very clear set of voices saying this process is not going to do it. and we need to be doing something else. and the youth voice collectively, and the indigenous voices collectively, i believe, are likely to lead us otherwise,

lily john  9:04  
was there much youth or indigenous involvement in previous cop conferences?

dr. valerie luzadis  9:10  
there was more this time, from my understanding, than most. youth voice in particular was written into this cop in terms of following on with a regular set of activities with the youth groups and indigenous groups as well. the thing that really strikes me i saw on the major panels throughout this, both youth and indigenous people, the indigenous voice one of one of the the messages loud and clear is that indigenous people have knowledge that can help us to resolve these issues, to mitigate and to adapt with climate change. and i did not see any indigenous people invited to share substantive ideas about that. all i heard were indigenous people invited to say, our voices need to be heard. they were also saying we have knowledge that can help. we had science everywhere, on every panel all the time, but not indigenous knowledge with it. and i don’t understand that there’s a relegation of these voices. and that’s hugely problematic.

lily john  10:13  
i recently heard a piece on npr about a group of young indigenous women who had travelled from new zealand and alaska to speak at cop. but their time was cut short and almost eliminated. so it seems like only the first step is being taken with inviting them to be there.

dr. valerie luzadis  10:31  
i would say that’s right. and not only inviting, but inviting into a process that clearly they weren’t part of designing, and in which their approaches and their relationship with time and relationship were not respected. again, that’s hugely problematic. there was a very, very big sense of frustration. and that was really palpable. and not just in the protests, it was palpable in the rooms, it was palpable from different governments, and especially the smaller countries and the small island developing nations. and so it’s a really interesting question of what kind of activity through civil society can take place or will take place that will help us to address this problem. at the same time, we’ve got this formal process, and there was progress made.

lily john  11:19  
overall, would you say you’re leaning toward more towards optimism, or more towards being disappointed by the lack of results?

dr. valerie luzadis  11:28  
i am, by nature, an optimistic person. and i put my energy and my attention on the positive and on the vision of the future that i want to see. i can say, some progress was made. and it was not enough. i like to see the activity of working by consensus, because so much of our world is a violent world. and to see where countries can come together and work by consensus, that’s very important. it’s a non-violent approach to getting us to a non-violent, equitable, sustainable world. and at the same time, it’s not enough for modi to come out and say 2070 for india to be net zero. that’s too late. the ideas on the radar, that’s good. so is that better than not being on the radar? maybe?

lily john  12:17  
yeah, i was curious about india’s announcement, because that was one of the first things i heard out of cop. and i thought it was super exciting. and the landmark dramatic change that we were looking for, but now reading about the reactions and act thinking about where 2070 is… and also it seems like the social justice and the human issues have not really been acknowledged there. so it’s more of something for shock value is kind of how it seems from the outside.

dr. valerie luzadis  12:49  
well, the truth is that politics are at play in this setting. there was a us-china agreement that came out. and that’s actually got a lot to do with why we have the language of unabated coal and inefficient subsidies of fossil fuels, is because of the us-china agreement. is this a good thing? it is because as one of the biggest emitters, china, did not send their leader to this meeting. and so to have an agreement come out during this time was really important.

lily john  13:20  
given everything we’ve discussed, what do you see as being the most effective step in implementing the necessary systemic change?

dr. valerie luzadis  13:29  
i think that one of the things we do is that when we teach only about the intellectual mind, and the analytical aspects of things, and we don’t necessarily teach about heart, and love, and imagination, and intuition, these other parts of us super important. and that’s actually what’s going to weave into that with our intellect, that i think will help us to hold that vision and figure out how to get there. it’s the whole person approach, we need to bring all of ourselves to all that we do for a long time now, we’ve been asked just to bring this part of us just our heads. and that’s not enough, we can see it. and we certainly don’t teach the skills of how to understand intuitive knowledge, where there are skills affiliated with that, that we could learn. it’s different than analytical knowledge. it’s just as important. and so understanding and using these things in tandem, is actually the the education of the future, i believe, but we need to build that skill set and we need to build the community system that’ll allow us to do that.

transcribed by https://otter.ai

it’s jarring to imagine such a long-standing custom becoming unsafe. but this threat to tradition is just one potential impact of climate change in the middle east and north africa.

the region, known as mena, is no monolith; generalization is dangerous. however, experts anticipate it being affected by global climate change more than other world regions.

while there are unknowns, certain factors make mena particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change. knowing these factors matters as we develop targeted solutions and work to piece together the global climate story across borders.

1. mena’s most populous cities are coastal; rising sea levels pose serious flood risks 

mena’s coastal cities are the most population-dense in the region. in the arabian sea and gulf region, cities like abu dhabi, doha, and dubai are at higher flood risk being located on low-lying coastal zones or islands. the world economic forum has identified 24 ports in the middle east and 19 ports in north africa they consider vulnerable to sea level rise. 

flood planning is going to be crucial as rising sea levels could make future major environmental events like cyclones even more devastating. doha may develop flood management protocol that could be relevant in california, too.

2. the mena region is the most water-stressed region in the world  

while mena will be seriously affected by flooding, it’s also the most water-stressed region in the world. by 2050, there are indications that natural water resources in mena will drop to 11 times less than the global average. 

while the water supplies are naturally lower due to heat, growing demands have pushed the limits. as a result of global warming, annual mean precipitation in the region could decrease by 10% in the region, according to a study from the cyprus institute. creative water management systems are going to be vital. efforts to desalinate and recycle water are possible, but underutilized due to issues with integration and associated costs.

3. the mena region is naturally one of the hottest, driest regions on earth

most people know mena for its naturally hot and arid climate. however, the “hottest days of today” could be daily occurrences on the gulf coast by 2070. the heat waves could make certain areas nearly unlivable. 

but even if it doesn’t escalate to that point, the implications for agriculture and the economy are vast. as average temperatures increase, dry seasons become longer and crops wither. with drier land, illness-inducing dust storms become more common, losses from dust storms total to $150 billion and more than 2.5% of gross domestic product (gdp) on average in mena already.

4. mena countries have experienced some of the fastest population growth rates worldwide

as globalization and urbanization in mena continue, so does population growth. mena experienced the highest rate of population growth of any region in the world over the past century.

as population growth continues, there will be increased water and energy demands. as we’ve discovered so far, climate change will only make resources more scarce. as water becomes scarce, water treatment techniques like desalination will require more energy input. more people means this vicious cycle is only propelled further.

5. historically, climate change and conflict have been inextricably linked throughout the region

qualifying mena solely through its conflicts isn’t nuanced or helpful. still, understanding that climate change and conflict are linked throughout mena is imperative.

in yemen, where the government has been absent, and armed conflict has increased, water has been weaponized at civilians’ expense. islamic state efforts to control the mosul and fallujah dams in 2014 speaks to how terror organizations consolidate power by manipulating resources.

as climate change causes scarcity, the relationship between climate and conflict is one of the most important dynamics to consider. the mena region illustrates the relationship, but it is not alone in experiencing it.

where do we go from here?

the rest of the world cannot be absolved from caring about these factors under the guise of distance. mena is a unique region, so it requires unique solutions. however, the trends outlined here are part of global climate patterns that can and will affect populations regardless of borders. education on mena’s risk factors, as well as its potential to overcome them, is the first step in approaching sustainable solutions. 

as i looked at my own hands, soft and pale, i realized that i would never understand her day-to-day life. i would never understand what it felt like to have the fate of your family sifting through your fingers. i knelt down next to her and let her show me the most efficient method to pulling weeds. images danced through  my mind as i remembered my childhood of gardening with my own mother. this was a different world and yet there i was, immersed in the livelihood of her people. this was their culture. agriculture to these women wasn’t a career, it was a way of life. it was the focus of their day, because without it, they wouldn’t know a tomorrow.

later that day i wandered through the markets, over stimulated by the aroma and clamor that i came to recognize as a mixture of sweat, curry, and chickens. women gossiped around me as they quite literally sold the fruit of their labor. my whole life i had witnessed separate sectors of agriculture, rarely did they overlap. here in india, they all blended together in an assembly of noise and color. the women grew, harvested, transported, and sold the food. as i walked on, i noticed that most of the food was sold in the open and a vast majority of it was already beginning to rot. wasted food meant wasted nutrients and yet there was nothing that could be done. they would sell and eat what they could before the hunger season set in.

to fight this scenario, we created kinosol. kinosol is a mobile solar dehydrator for fruits and vegetables. it has a mylar lined storage unit to lengthen shelf life and bicycle hitch and tires have been added to ensure markets could be easily accessible. kinosol’s main objective is to put power back into the hands of women living in the developing world.

our primary targets for kinosol are subsistence farmers. currently, women in developing countries perform 80% of the agriculture work, yet they control less than 2% of the land

today, in the peripheral countries, women are less likely than men to own land, use credit or other financial services, or receive education or extension advice. in some cases, women do not even control the use of their own time, yet evidence from africa, asia and latin america consistently shows that families benefit when women have greater status and power within the household.

these are facts we no longer choose to accept as an adequate future. as a woman in the united states, we hear of the disadvantaged life women lead around the world and we think how fortunate we are to possess our luxuries. my three-team members and myself realized that we have the resources to affect change and help empower these women rather than pitying them.

it is a less commonly known fact that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent. this would reduce our world hunger by 100-150 million people. when women have additional income, they take that money and reinvest it back into their household. this inevitably puts food on the table and money reinvested in education for the children.

one goal of the kinosol team is to break down the gender barriers in these regions, and empower local women to subsequently boost the overall economy and standard of living, while helping to decrease post harvest losses.  

we created the kinosol unit as a tool for women to reduce their waste and increase their family’s nutrient consumption. excess dehydrated produce can be sold at market, allowing women to make an income for her family, which has been shown to dramatically increase her power in the household. during times of low food supply, dehydrated food can be consumed as it has a shelf life of six months. this will reduce the malnutrition prevalence in households who own our product.

our primary goal is multifaceted as we wish to see a significant reduction in post harvest loss while also an increased income for the families. with kinosol we are confident we can tackle some of the most prevalent burdens of the developing world, one woman at a time.